What’s Next For Cabot Links?

Rick Young

Rick Young

Just before Christmas I caught up with Cabot Links visionary Ben Cowan-Dewar.

The entrepreneurial managing director of the widely acclaimed Atlantic Canada golf resort should have been enjoying some down time after another successful year in tiny Inverness, the former coal-mining town on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island that has, in quite remarkable fashion, rose to prominence as one of the world’s premiere golf destinations. He was not. “Rust Never Sleeps,” according to Canadian songwriter Neil Young and apparently neither does Cowan-Dewar, who has plenty to think about this off-season after it was revealed in late November that Cabot Links plans on building a par-3 short course.

“One of the things we’ve had at Cabot since our great take off, as you know, is very full golf courses so this (par-3 short course) is something that offers people something they can do in one to two hours,” Cowan-Dewar explained about the project, which, to date, is without confirmation on who will do the routing or the number of holes being planned. “It just feels like there is a lot of demand for that in the market right now. Sure it already existed at places like Augusta and Pine Valley but I really believe Mike (Keiser, Cabot’s co-founder) brought about this current short course renaissance with Preserve, the 13-hole Coore-Crenshaw course at Bandon (Dunes). That has been really successful, whether it’s visitors who don’t quite want 36 holes in a day or with people upon arrival or even a day of departure who can grab a few clubs and go have some fun.”

To gain added perspective on what a short course component could mean, Cowan-Dewar traveled to Pinehurst a few weeks ago. The North Carolina sand hills resort recently debuted The Cradle, a new nine-hole facility designed by architect Gil Hanse, which opened to rave reviews. For Cowan-Dewar, the experience helped reaffirm his commitment to a short course for Cabot as the next step in the resort’s evolving development.

“The day I got there I saw young families; there were couples; there were juniors, groups of guys. To me it felt like it added a great opportunity. For us to do it at Cliffs, ahead of a clubhouse that we’re contemplating there, has some upside. We have some neat land and we always talked about it during the construction at Cliffs. From a timing standpoint it just feels like the time is right to get moving on it,” Cowan-Dewar said.

From an operations perspective, adding golf, as mentioned, is expected to have a positive effect on resort flow and visitor movement. That said, ramping up infrastructure, especially requirements for more resort accommodation, must also be addressed. With that comes doing due diligence to find town-based solutions for water, sewage and employment among other things.

As a reference point, Cabot Links employed over 650 people this past season.

“If you look at where we were five years ago we’ve come a long way but we still have a ways to go,” added Cowan-Dewar. “You’re correct in the situation with accommodation. It’s our biggest choke point. It’s our bottle-neck. We have added a fair bit by going from 48 rooms to what we have now, which is 124 rooms, but it’s still not enough. Looking out to 2019 and beyond, that will be the focus for us.”

I asked Cowan-Dewar if he feels he can take this on without adding a lodging partner or entering into a leasing arrangement. To that Cowan-Dewar was adamant: The goal is to keep operations and resorts assets internal. That mirrors the business model at Bandon Dunes. It opened in 1999 with 70 rooms and today has expanded to 380 rooms. All are under its control and management.

“The easiest thing in the world is to catch up to growth,” he said. “You will remember this but in those early days lots of people didn’t think we would even be able to sell 48 rooms. Well now, as I said, we’re up to 124 rooms. That’s in just four years, which is a response to the support we’ve got for the product. Bandon’s growth and roll-out was similar. We can handle it.”

That became a bridge for an obvious question: If Cowan-Dewar’s vision is more beds, could even more golf at Cabot Links on the horizon? A site near the rural community of nearby Mabouwas rumoured to have been explored, although nothing other than speculation has become of it.

“The reality is you look at Bandon, which is closing in on 20 years of being open, and you see what they have accomplished with four courses, and Preserve as the fifth, and they are still talking about adding more golf there,” he said. “I think it’s a great roadmap for a truly amazing destination. For them, it continues to make sense to explore more golf. Hopefully, the short course at Cabot isn’t the end of building golf in the greater Inverness area.”

Once again, however, it’s important to circle back to what lies in prospect. Adding golf not only ramps up the need for beds and further Inverness-based infrastructure, but also for streamlining travel to and from Inverness. That reference, of course, is to air service. For the moment, that has to be viewed as a Cabot shortcoming.

Though the drive is picturesque from any of Halifax International (three hours away by car) Sydney Airport (two hours), or private Port Hawkesbury Airport (just over an hour), people today — especially golfers — are far more inclined to get to their destination as quick as possible.

Possibilities of a $9-million runway expansion from 2,500 to 5,000 feet at Margaree Airport, about 20 minutes from Cabot, remain in the exploratory stage. Municipal and provincial government would both need to sign off on any deal but no question it would be a significant regional boost, not only for the Cabot courses, but also for travellers moving about northern and central Cape Breton.

“I wholeheartedly agree with your opinion,” Cowan-Dewar said. “Air access continues to be the ever-growing method people use to travel. I think that would increase the potential for drawing more tourism to the province and to the region.”

As indicated, government will play a key role in whatever outcome awaits Margaree Airport and any future consideration for Port Hawkesbury. As a driver of economic development in a region that needs it, all three levels of government — local, provincial and federal — have proven instrumental for Cabot’s success. Cowan-Dewar calls the relationship, “amazing, hopefully both ways” and the support at all three levels, “terrific.”

“The challenges for finding any financing for golf or a golf resort in a rural setting are really tough to imagine and would not have been possible with anyone else but them,” he said. “I think the reality is when you look at the economic development for the province — over 650 people working in Inverness this past summer — the experiment has been a great one for all parties. I never forget it. The support we have received has been tremendous.”

As the calendar turns there is more Cabot news to talk about. For the second straight year the resort has announced it will play host to national final of the RBC PGA of Canada Scramble.

“I think the RBC Scramble was an awesome event last year. I loved it. And it was awesome because rather than it being pros, who we love, it was people who come to Cabot on a daily basis from across the country which is the retail golfer. Having an event geared toward them, one that felt like it was their World Series, their Super Bowl or Stanley Cup final, was really fun. It was very cool to see the pressure the guys put on themselves, having the pros there, a team atmosphere. It’s a very unique format. Admittedly, it wasn’t necessarily my intention to continue to do it but it was so great it was an easy yes to say let’s keep going. All of us here too tip our hats to RBC and the PGA of Canada for putting on a great event,” added Cowan-Dewar.

There is more.

Earlier this week, Golf Digest named Cliffs ninth and Links 43rd on its ranking of the Top 100 courses in the world outside the United States. Both distinctions add further recognition to a resort that has routinely garnered global praise and accolades since opening.

“It was 13 years ago this week that I went to Inverness for the first time,” Cowan-Dewar told me in closing. “When I think back on 13 years I can’t tell you just how far this has exceeded my earliest expectations. There are a lot of people to thank, too many to even mention. One thing I know: we have a lot to look forward to.”